Veloute Sauce (Page 880)

RECIPE #958

• Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009 -- 7pm
• Location: Bloomington, IN
• Kitchen: My Apartment
• Fellow Chef: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B+
  

I love veloute, but hadn't made this recipe yet because it calls for homemade stock (with a special warning not to use canned broth). I was out of stock for a while, but as soon as I made the veal stock from The Book I was ready to make this sauce. My special gentleman started by cooking chopped onion in butter then adding flour to form a roux. We then added warm veal stock, whisking. We also added chopped mushroom stems, parsley stems, thyme, bay leaf, and white peppercorns. We simmered it until thickened then strained through a fine mesh sieve and seasoned with salt. This sauce had a great flavor to it. Essentially it tasted like the veal stock, with a few added herby flavors. The texture wasn't perfect though. We simmered for more than the suggested time, but it still wasn't quite thick enough. In retrospect we should have kept simmering, but we had timed dinner according to the times given in The Book, and we didn't want to wait! It was a nice version of veloute, but I would suggest simmering it longer than the recommended amount of time.

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Hello from Boston! This coming week is our Spring Break, so this afternoon, after I taught my class, I headed to the airport. (Apparently I was not the only one with that plan -- both the airport and the plane I was on were swamped with undergraduates headed off for break!) I am spending the next week in Boston, visiting friends and visiting MIT (and visiting friends at MIT!), then the following week at a conference in North Carolina. So my Spring Break is a little extended. Fortunately, one of my colleagues was willing to teach my class for me the week after next so that I can attend the conference. I have been running around like a crazy person the last couple days trying to get a bunch of things done before this trip, so now it is very nice to just sit and relax. Tonight I am staying with my dear friend Rachel and her husband Eric and their baby Justin. By the time I got here Rach and Justin were already asleep. So I am hanging out, typing very quietly so as not to wake the baby! Justin is almost two months old and I haven't met him yet, so I am very excited to meet him in the morning! For now though, I will enjoy a quiet and restful Friday night!